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Peripheral artery disease (PAD) and non-compressible artery disease (NCAD) constitute predictors of subclinical atherosclerosis easily assessed through the ankle brachial index (ABI). Although both diseases show substantial genetic influences, few genetic association studies have focused on the ABI and PAD, and none have focused on NCAD. To overcome these limitations, we assessed the role of several candidate genes on the ABI, both in its continuous distribution and in the clinical manifestations associated to its extreme values: PAD and NCAD. We examined 13 candidate genomic regions in 1606 participants from the ARTPER study, a prospective population-based cohort, with the ABI assessed through ultrasonography. Association analyses were conducted independently for individuals with PAD (ABI < 0.9) or with NCAD (ABI > 1.4) vs. healthy participants. After including potential covariates and correction for multiple testing, minor alleles in the genetic markers rs10757278 and rs1333049, both in the 9p21.3 region, were significantly associated with a decreased risk of NCAD. Associations with the ABI showed limited support to these results. No significant associations were detected for PAD. The locus 9p21.3 constitutes the first genetic locus associated with NCAD, an assessment of subclinical atherosclerosis feasible for implementation in primary healthcare settings that has been systematically neglected from genetic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The neurological symptoms of Long COVID (LC) and the impact of neuropsychological manifestations on people's daily lives have been extensively described. Although a large body of literature describes symptoms, validating this with objective measures is important. This study aims to identify and describe the effects of Long COVID on cognition, balance, and the retinal fundus, and determine whether the duration of symptoms influences cognitive impairment., Methods: This cross-sectional study involved LC volunteers with cognitive complaint from public health centers in northern Barcelona who participated between January 2022 and March 2023. This study collected sociodemographic characteristics, information on substance use, comorbidities, and clinical data related to COVID-19. We measured five cognitive domains using a battery of neuropsychological tests. Balance was assessed through posturography and retinal vascular involvement by retinography., Results: A total of 166 people with LC and cognitive complaints participated, 80.72% were women and mean age was 49.28 ± 8.39 years. The most common self-reported symptoms were concentration and memory deficit (98.80%), brain fog (82.53%) and insomnia (71.17%). The 68.67% presented cognitive deficit in at least one domain, with executive functions being the most frequent (43.98%). The 51.52% of the participants exhibited a dysfunctional pattern in balance, and 9.2% showed some alteration in the retina. There were no statistically significant differences between cognitive impairment and symptom duration., Conclusion: Our findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the pathology associated with Long COVID. They highlight the diversity of self-reported symptoms, the presence of abnormal balance patterns, and some cognitive impairment. These findings underscore the necessity of addressing the clinical management of this condition in primary care through follow-up and the pursuit of multidisciplinary and comprehensive treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Carmona-Cervelló, León-Gómez, Dacosta-Aguayo, Lamonja-Vicente, Montero-Alía, Molist, Ayet, Chacón, Costa-Garrido, López-Lifante, Zamora-Putin, Liutsko, García-Sierra, Fornés, Moreno-Gabriel, Massanella, Muñoz-Moreno, Rodríguez-Pérez, Mateu, Prats, Mataró, Boigues, Quirant, Prado, Martínez-Cáceres, Violán, Torán-Monserrat and the APC Collaborative Group.)

Background and Purpose: There is a paucity of data on long-term neuroimaging findings from individuals who have developed the post-coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) condition. Only 2 studies have investigated the correlations between cognitive assessment results and structural MR imaging in this population. This study aimed to elucidate the long-term cognitive outcomes of participants with the post-COVID-19 condition and to correlate these cognitive findings with structural MR imaging data in the post-COVID-19 condition., Materials and Methods: A cohort of 53 participants with the post-COVID-19 condition underwent 3T brain MR imaging with T1 and FLAIR sequences obtained a median of 1.8 years after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. A comprehensive neuropsychological battery was used to assess several cognitive domains in the same individuals. Correlations between cognitive domains and whole-brain voxel-based morphometry were performed. Different ROIs from FreeSurfer were used to perform the same correlations with other neuroimaging features., Results: According to the Frascati criteria, more than one-half of the participants had deficits in the attentional (55%, n  = 29) and executive (59%, n  = 31) domains, while 40% ( n  = 21) had impairment in the memory domain. Only 1 participant (1.89%) showed problems in the visuospatial and visuoconstructive domains. We observed that reduced cortical thickness in the left parahippocampal region ( t (48) = 2.28, P  = .03) and the right caudal-middle-frontal region ( t (48) = 2.20, P  = .03) was positively correlated with the memory domain., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that cognitive impairment in individuals with the post-COVID-19 condition is associated with long-term alterations in the structure of the brain. These macrostructural changes may provide insight into the nature of cognitive symptoms., (© 2024 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.)